feels a bone sticking in his throat, and finds some difficulty in removing it, they procure a black cat, and fall down and worship it three or seven times, by which act of worship they think they will be relieved.

6. It is said by the low Mussulmen, that if anybody takes off his long drawers, and puts them under his head to sleep upon them, he will dream pleasantly all night.

7. It is a common saying, chiefly among Mussulmen, that a person cannot see his nose six months before his death. 8. When a Hindoo or Mussulman sees an old woman who, on account of her age, keeps moving her lips or chin, he immediately says, 'Put some salt upon her head.' This they say because they take her to be a witch, or a devil incarnate, or one wholly possessed. This moving her lips or shaking her chin, is the act of sucking up the beholder's blood. This would be effectually prevented, they suppose, by putting a little salt upon her head. Such women they call Dains.

9. 'It is not good,' say the Hindoo and low Mussulwomen, 'for any person to shame blindness.'

10. The women say, that a person will get the asthma by spitting into a burning hearth or a pan of live coals.

11. It is also said by them, that those who kill a certain lizard, called Bannee, will become blind.

12. The Hindoos and low Mussulmen hold it to be a dangerous thing to call a snake by its proper name at night. Instead, therefore, of saying 'Sap,' they say Dorce' (or sting), fancying that, if the name be uttered, it will certainly make its appearance.

13. A Hindoo will by no means step over a piece of string that lies across his way. If it is not too long, he will go round it. If it is too long, he will lift it up and pass beneath it.

14. It is related by most Mussulwomen, that one of the sons of Ulee, either Hussun or Hasyen, having lost a battle with Eezeed, in his flight hid himself in a jar, which a spider immediately covered with a very strong web. The enemy coming up soon after, had well nigh been balked in their pursuit; but a lizard near the jar immediately made a noise, intimating thereby that the game was there; and a rat set about gnawing the spider's web. The consequence was, the refugee was discovered and slain.

Since this transaction, the Mussulmen venerate the spider, and will not suffer it to be injured, but denounce with implacable hatred the race of rats and lizards.

15. It is usual with the lower class of Mussul women, when a hen, or any article of furniture, has been stolen from them, to go out into the streets and exclaim, 'I hereby warn every person, that if my things are not restored by morning, I will go to the shrine of such a heer (or martyr), and break a leg of one of the horses.' These horses are little things made of earth, and burned by the potter, from whom it is usual for the silly people to buy them, and cast them in abundance on the tomb of the saint. It is said, that if a person breaks a leg of one of these things, keeping in eye at the same time the person who has stolen the property, he will become lame.

16. When a Mussulman of the lower class feels enraged at a person who has injured him, he threatens that he will tie a red thread round a knife, and place it between the pages of the Koran; the consequence of which would be, as he supposes, instant death to the person who had insulted him.

17. The Hindoo women are in the habit of making a certain sort of maugre pickle. Many superstitious forms are used during the process. When they have prepared the mustard seed, which is one of the chief ingredients, they mako some preparatory poojah before they mix it up with the other articles. Before they have finally prepared it, they go through several poojahs of a similar nature. After the pickle is ready, they consult a favourable day, when they take it out for use. The men are not permitted to touch it, till it has gone through three ceremonies; and even then, they must receive it at the hands of the women.

18. The boatmen, both Hindoos and Mussulmen, are in the habit of offering flowers at the head and stern of the boat, and anointing it with red lead and oil. This offering is believed to be made to the god or demon called Vis-hyakurma, or the god of artisans-the Mercury of the eastern mythology.

19. 'It is not good,' say the low Hindoo and Mussulwomen, 'to mock the mangoe bird or kokeel."

20. The Hindoo women are not suffered to put on shoes.

21. A Hindoo, when he returns home,

after transacting the business of the day, is not suffered to touch the women, not even his wife, before he has bathed himself, and put on clean clothes.

22. The gamblers, in the upper provinces, throw shells (cowries), with which they gamble to a great extent, under the feet of the elephant, who, if he treads upon them, they conclude has communicated a charm to them, which will cause them to be successful in every future game.

23. There is an opinion current among the Hindoos, that the native jugglers have in their possession pieces of the bones of Chundals, by virtue of which they are enabled to perform their dexterous and puzzling feats.

24. The farmers declare that the left ox in a plough sees the springing up of the sun-plant (flax) before the whole field has been sowed-so soon does this plant grow, according to their opinion.

25. The low Hindoo and Mussulwomen say, that if, upon coming out of their house in the morning, they should see two crows fighting, they will inevitably be involved in some quarrel in the course of the day.

26. If a raven is seen repeatedly seated on the top of a house, and croaks incessantly, it is held to be a sure omen of the death of some of the inhabitants.

27. The Hindoos, of both sexes, and the low Mussulwomen, will not upon any account tread upon or step over a piece of rag, or a plate or pot which may chance to be overset: they go round it.

28. The Hindoos are decidedly of opinion that, on a particular month of the year, called by them Pons, if they happen to burn their clothes, they shall not prosper that year.

29. The Hindoos, and many of the low Mussulmen, are persuaded that, when a stack of straw takes fire, a great part of it will be turned into kanch (a substance which they manufacture into green and black bracelets, &c.), by throwing betel leaves, flowers, and other articles, into the flames. This foolish conviction is so strongly impressed upon them, that they refuse all proffered assistance for the extinguishing of the fire.

30. There is a certain god of the Hindoos called Tarikeeshur, at a place of that name, who is believed to have the power of curing all sorts of diseases. Those who wish to benefit by his power must suffer their hair and nails to grow

for a period varying from one, three, five, to seven years; and when they are cured (if the power of the imagination over the body goes that length), they must then either repair in person to Tarikeeshur, to have their heads shaved and their nails pared, as well as to offer certain sacrifices; or, if circumstances should absolutely prevent their personal appearance at the shrine of the divinity, a deputy must be procured, whose business it is to cause the patient to shave his head and pare his nails, take charge of this residuum, bear it to the seat of the god, and there perform, as proxy, the remaining sacrifices.

31. The shopkeepers will sell an article or two below prime cost to the purchaser that comes first to the shop in the morning.

32. The Hindoos and Mussulmen say that Mahomet, their prophet, had no shadow.

33. The Hindoos and Mussulmen say that evil spirits speak through the nose.

34. The Hindoos of both sexes, as well as the low Mussulmen, upon first lighting a lamp in the dusk, go all about the house, inside and outside; failing which ceremony, they say, the premises will be haunted.

35. The Hindoo women say, that the hearth, the broom, and the winnowingfan hold conversation at night, when all the people are fast asleep, and relate to each other the treatment they have met with during the day.

36. The Hindoo and Mussulwomen of the lower orders hold that the goat says, 'If my master or feeder and his family die, and the house fall to ruins, it would be a happy circumstance for me; for, in that case, I should have liberty to wander about and feed plentifully on the grass that would grow out of the ruins.' The cat says, 'Oh that my master and mistress, and all the family, were blind! for then I could freely eat with them from the same dish.' But the dog says, 'God bless my master's family, and may they be multiplied! for then, if each of them gave me a handful of rice, I should be sure of an abundant meal.' This belief often prevents dogs and cats from being fed.

37. At the celebration of a Hindoo or Mussulman wedding, the women will not suffer a widow to take any part in the ceremonies, not even if she should be the mother of either of the parties, for fear the new bride might become a widow too.

38. The Mussulmen have an idea that pearls are produced in oysters by the drops of rain which fall into them as they open their valves to receive the air or the warmth of the sun.

39. 'It is not good,' say the low Hindoo and Mussulwomen, 'to utter the name of a monkey previous to any other word, in the morning.'

40. When the Hindoos or Mussulmen hear a person pronounce the name of a miser in the morning, they almost mechanically exclaim, 'Whose name have you uttered so early in the morning? Perhaps we shall have to starve to-day?'

41. Mussulmen and Hindoos never drink water out of any vessel till they have spilt a small part of it on the ground.

42. Hindoo women sometimes make a vow to eat their dinner with their left hand during a certain number of days, | months, or years. This is done with the expectation that either they or some member of their family will be relieved from some disorder to which they are subject. During the existence of this penance, should a visiter, upon seeing them eat with their left hand, ask the reason, they will instantly leave off eating for the time.

43. The Hindoos and low Mussulmen will not dare to plant a cocoa-nut-tree with their own hands, if their father and grandfather, but especially the former, has not done so before them. In like manner, if their ancestors have not built a brick house before them, they will not venture to do so. Their fear is, that a house so built would demand the sacrifice of the life of some member of the family.

44. There are certain diseases which, the Hindoo women say, will infallibly be cured by taking a black pigeon, carrying it to a cross road, and there, in the name of the invalid, letting it loose. The person who first catches it will be seized with the disorder, whilst the invalid will be cured.

45. The Mussulmen usually consult the pages of the Koran for good fortune. The person desirous of knowing his fortune goes to the Mollah, and makes him a present. The Mollah, upon receiving his premium, takes out the Koran, makes a salaam to it, opens it, and reads the words where it falls open. He then translates the passage, which tells the inquirer his fortune.

46. On applying a shell to our ears,

we hear the peculiar whissing noise familiar to all. In Europe, children say it resembles the roar of the sea; but the Hindoos say it is the sound of the flames issuing from the hearth of Ravuna.

47. The kites, being birds of passage, usually leave Bengal at the commencement of the rains, and do not return before the setting in of the cold season. These annual pilgrimages, say the Hindoos, are made with a view to their going and sheltering from the rains the flaming hearth of Ravuna.

This god, whose name has twice occurred, is also called Ravana, or Dasagriva, the ten-necked. He is a distinguished member of the Hindoo Pantheon; and a line or two we devote to a description of his nature and powers, as the conclusion of these exceedingly curious memoranda, deplorable as an exhibition of human weakness, and instructive as an index of the herculean labour which lies before the missionary, before he can sow 'the good seed' amongst the swarming and deluded and superstitious natives of India.

Ravana's name means tyrant; and his numerous heads, as well as his twenty hands, are the usual symbols of dominion and strength. Mr Moor, in his great work on the Indian Mythology, relates his history, which may be thus briefly stated:-Ravana, by his power and infernal arts, subjugated all the gods and demigods, and forced them to perform menial offices about his person and household. Indra made garlands of flowers to adorn him withal; Agni was his cook; Surya supplied light by day, and Chandra by night; Varuna purveyed water for the palace; Kuvera furnished cash; the whole nasa-graha (the nine planetary spheres) sometimes arrayed themselves into a ladder, by which, they serving as steps, the tyrant ascended his throne; Brahma (for the great gods were there also) was a herald, proclaiming the giant's titles, the day of the week, month, &c., daily in the palace-in short, a sort of speaking almanack; Vishnu and the female divinities were also subservient, having each appropriate duties allotted for their performance; and lastly, earthly kings and queens were said to have been forced into the service of Ravana, to the number of ninety-six royal families.

It is said in the 'Ramayana,' that, 'where Ravana remains, the sun loses his force, the winds cease to blow, the fire ceases to burn, the rolling ocean, seeing

UNHAPPY MAN.

An old man stood on the new-year's midnight at the window, and gazed with a look of long despair upwards to the immoveable, ever-blooming heaven, and down upon the still, pure, white earth, on which no one was then so joyless and sleepless as he. For his grave stood near him; it was covered over only with the snow of age, not with the green of youth; and he brought nothing with him out of the whole rich life, nothing with him, but errors, sins, and disease, a wasted body, a desolated soul, the breast full of poison, an old age full of remorse. The beautiful days of his youth turned round to-day as spectres, and drew him back again to that bright morning on which his father first placed him at the crossroad of life, which, on the right hand, leads by the sun-path of virtue into a wide, peaceful land, full of light and of harvests, and full of angels, and which, on the left hand, descends in the moleways of vice, into a black cavern full of down-dropping poison, full of aiming serpents, and of gloomy, sultry vapours.

Ah! the serpents hung about his breast, and the drops of poison on his tongue.- -And he knew now where he was!

Frantic, and with unspeakable grief, he called upwards to heaven: 'Oh! give me back my youth again!-Oh Father! place me once more at the cross-path of life, that I may choose otherwise than I did.' But his father and his youth had long since passed away.

He saw fiery exhalations dancing on the marshes, and extinguishing themselves in the churchyard, and he said: 'These are the days of my folly!'-He saw a star fly from heaven, and, in falling, glimmer and dissolve upon the earth. That am I!' said his bleeding heart, and the serpent-teeth of remorse dug therein further in its wounds.

His flaming fancy showed him sleepwalkers slinking away on the house-tops; and a wind-mill raised up its arms threateningly to destroy him; and a mask that remained behind in the empty charnel-house, assumed by degrees his own features.

In the midst of this paroxysm, suddenly the music for the new-year flowed down from the steeple, like distant church-anthems. He became more gently moved.

the wide world, and thought on the friends of his youth, who, better and more happy than he, were now instructors of the earth, fathers of happy children, and blessed men-and he exclaimed: 'Oh! I also might have slumbered, like you, this new-year's night with dry eyes, had I chosen it. Ah! I might have been happy, beloved parents! had I fulfilled your new-year's wishes and instructions.'

In feverish recollection of the period of his youth, it appeared to him as if the mask with his features raised itself up in the charnel-house. At length, through the superstition, which, on the new-year's night, beholds spirits and futurity, it grew to a living youth in the position of the beautiful boy of the Capitol, pulling out a thorn; and his former blooming figure was bitterly placed as a phantasma before him.

He could behold it no longer-he covered his eyes. A thousand hot, draining tears streamed into the snow. He now only softly sighed, inconsolably and unconsciously: 'Only come again, youth! come again!'

And it came again, for he had only dreamed so fearfully on the new-year's night.—He was still a youth. His errors alone had been no dream; but he thanked God, that still young he could turn round in the foul ways of vice, and fall back on the sun-path which conducts into the pure land of harvests.

Turn with him, youthful reader, if thou standest on his path of error! This frightful dream will, in the future, become thy judge; but shouldst thou one day call out, full of anguish, 'Come again, beautiful youth!'-it would not come again.-Jean Paul Richter.

THE FAIRY COBBLERS. Once upon a time, a cobbler had become so poor, and that without any fault of his own, that there only remained to him as much leather as would make a single pair of shoes. He cut them into shape at night, so as to sew them up on the following morning, and then slipped quietly to bed. When he arose early to begin his work, the two shoes stood finished upon the table. He did not know very well what to think of this; but, having taken them up in his hand, to look at them more closely, he found that the workmanship was a perfect masterpiece. This pair of shoes was sold so